Aaron Hernandez's probable cause hearing is set for Thursday after it was originally delayed for 30 days. / Bizuayehu Tesfaye, AP

by Kevin Manahan, USA TODAY Sports

by Kevin Manahan, USA TODAY Sports

ATTLEBORO, Mass. -- Last month, when Aaron Hernandez's probable cause hearing was delayed for 30 days, angry defense attorneys -- denied a chance to answer allegations in court -- stood defiantly on the courthouse lawn, vowing to return and prove the former New England Patriots tight end is innocent of murder.

Thursday, they might get that chance.

Hernandez, 23, is expected to get his probable cause hearing, barring another delay or a surprise from prosecutors -- an indictment from one of two grand juries looking into his role in two shootings.

Hernandez has been charged with murder in the June 17 shooting of 27-year-old semipro football player and friend Odin Lloyd. He has pleaded not guilty and has been held without bail since his arraignment on June 26.

Prosecutors say Hernandez "orchestrated" the killing of Lloyd, a buddy Hernandez said he could no longer trust in his inner circle.

Last month, Hernandez's counsel slammed prosecutors for requesting a delay, saying that after the district attorney's office made a "dramatic presentation" of the evidence against Hernandez, prosecutors have forced him to sit "in a solitary cell," unable to respond to the charges while the drip of evidence through unsealed court documents and media leaks hurts their client's shot at a fair trial.

But District Court Judge Daniel O'Shea, citing the seriousness of the charge, granted a 30-day continuance to prosecutors, who said they are waiting for a Fall River grand jury to sift through evidence and decide whether to hand down an indictment.

In the meantime, a Boston grand jury also is investigating Hernandez's link to a July 2012 drive-by double homicide outside a nightclub.

"We'll be here in another month and we'll be ready to go forward on Aug. 22, and at that time we're confident Aaron will be exonerated," defense attorney Charles Rankin said.

O'Shea gave prosecutors until Thursday to get an indictment or prepare to present their evidence at the rescheduled hearing.

At a probable cause hearing, Hernandez would have a chance to argue that evidence does not give prosecutors a reason to hold him for trial on the murder charge. A judge could rule there is reason to hold him for trial, or dismiss the murder and gun charges Hernandez faces.

However, if an indictment is handed down Thursday, it would short-circuit the probable cause hearing and Hernandez's next chance to argue against the evidence will come at his criminal trial.

When asked last month what made him sure Hernandez could beat the murder charge, Rankin said, "the facts of the case as we know them." When asked to explain, he refused.

Rankin, a partner in a firm with fellow Hernandez attorney Jamie Sultan, walked away from questions about Hernandez's possible link to the double homicide in Boston.

If given a shot at the evidence, defense attorneys are likely to attack the credibility of Carlos Ortiz, an alleged accomplice who, according to court documents, has been cooperating with investigators.

Ortiz, who told prosecutors he was in the car with Hernandez, Lloyd and Ernest Wallace on the night of the shooting, has pleaded not guilty to illegal possession of a handgun. In court documents, prosecutors say Ortiz told them that Wallace said Hernandez had fired the fatal shots.

Ortiz told police that Hernandez was angry at Lloyd but that the two had patched up their differences as they drove from Lloyd's home in Boston to Hernandez's home in North Attleborough, Mass. When the car stopped, the other three men got out to urinate and Ortiz said he heard gunshots but couldn't see in the darkness who had shot Loyd.

The next day, on the ride back to Bristol, Ortiz said Wallace said Hernandez was the shooter.

Lloyd, shot five times, was found in an industrial park approximately a half-mile from Hernandez's home.

Ortiz, 27, also has provided investigators with other details about the guns allegedly used that night and an apartment Hernandez rented for Wallace. Prosecutors say evidence was found at that Franklin, Mass., condo.

But Hernandez's attorneys are likely to attack Ortiz, a petty criminal and confessed drug user who has escaped more serious charges in the case.

There have been several developments since Hernandez's last appearance in court:

Wallace, 47, charged with being an accessory after the fact, was granted $500,000 bail, but remains incarcerated. Prosecutors had sought $1 million bail, while the defense had argued for $10,000.

Divers searched a lake and adjacent pond in Bristol, Conn., Hernandez's hometown, hoping to locate a weapon used in Lloyd's killing, but came up empty-handed and ended the search after a week.

Tanya Cummings-Singleton, a cousin of Hernandez, was jailed for contempt of a grand jury, refusing to testify before a panel investigating the Lloyd killing. Prosecutors said Cummings-Singleton purchased a bus ticket for Wallace to flee from Georgia to Florida after the shooting.

It was revealed that police who responded to a June 21 crash in Springfield, Mass., found a .38-caliber pistol in the trunk of a car being driven by Jailene Diaz-Ramos, of Bristol. Multiple reports said police have connected the gun to the Boston shooting.

Evidence already presented shows Jenkins might have lied to police about the night of the Lloyd shooting. She told police she went to bed early that night and didn't know where Hernandez had gone or whom he had been with. But prosecutors said surveillance cameras at Hernandez's home show her greeting Wallace and Ortiz in the driveway as they arrived to take Hernandez to pick up Lloyd.

The Bristol County District Attorney's office has declined comment on whether more charges will be filed as a result of the investigation.